As Hungary suffers from the highest EU inflation, Orbán’s salary hits new heights
According to Eurostat, annual inflation was 5.7% in January 2025. The EU statistics agency’s Monday report placed Hungary back in first place; it had been behind Romania in December, but in January, Romania’s inflation rate fell from 5.5% to 5.3%, putting it in second place.
The EU average inflation rate stands at 2.8%, while the average for eurozone countries is 2.5%. Inflation fell in eight Member States, remained stable in four, and rose in 15. On a monthly basis, Hungary’s increase was 1.5%, the fourth highest after Bulgaria and Slovakia (both at 1.8%) and Lithuania (1.6%).
The January 2023 inflation rate of 25.7% was the highest in Hungary since 1996, and the country held the EU’s top spot until October 2023.
The current spike in inflation is primarily due to higher prices for services, but the depreciation of the forint also plays a significant role. It is important to note that while the Hungarian government remains committed to the forint, the majority of Hungarians would support the euro as a currency, precisely because of its stability.
Orbán – Prices and salary
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasised the need to “put the brakes” on “unacceptable” price increases in a video message posted on Facebook on Tuesday.
“We won’t allow people to be fleeced,” Orbán said.
He noted that inflation had been brought down in 2024, the prices of some food products had begun to climb in January, with flour prices rising by around 40%, egg prices by over 30%, dairy product prices by 39%, and cooking oil prices by 10–11%. Orbán said he was confident that an agreement would be reached with supermarket chains to prevent “unaffordable prices,” but warned that National Economy Minister Márton Nagy had a mandate to regulate the prices of certain products if a deal failed to materialise. If that proved insufficient, profit margins could be capped, he added.
At the weekend, Orbán announced a significant tax rebate for Hungarian mothers, justifying the move by pointing out that the Hungarian economy is booming. He has also repeatedly criticised EU leaders for their poor economic policies, citing the Hungarian government’s performance as a positive example. Details HERE: New tax cuts to benefit hundreds of thousands of mothers in Hungary.
Orbán’s salary is now 11 times higher than the average
The Prime Minister has been receiving a salary in line with the average wage since 2018, bringing his income, including his MP’s allowance, to HUF 7.1 million from March.
The latest data release from the KSH not only revealed the national average gross salary but also Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s new salary, which will be HUF 7.1 million from March, writes 444. The Prime Minister’s salary is 2.7 times the basic salary of a member of parliament, while the latter is three times the average gross salary—i.e. three times HUF 646,800, or HUF 1,940,400. This means that Orbán’s gross salary as Prime Minister is HUF 5.24 million, but as he is also a member of parliament, he earns an additional HUF 1.94 million, bringing his total salary to over HUF 7 million.
Even though Orbán’s salary has more than quadrupled since 2017, he has not been able to save. According to his his latest wealth declaration, he and his wife’s joint account had only 5.7 million forints in savings at the end of last year—4.3 million less than the previous year. Miraculously, however, his family and friends are among the wealthiest people in the country. New documentary digs deep into the wealth of Hungarian PM Orbán’s family! – VIDEO with English subtitles
As we reported two days ago, PM Orbán’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz, may take over Russian Raiffeisen with Putin’s help. Read details HERE.
Péter Magyar, Orbán’s primary challenger in the next election, reacted to the staggering increase in the Prime Minister’s salary:
“Viktor Orbán is the only prime minister in Europe whose family members are all billionaires or have made hundreds of billions, and in the process, he has made our country the poorest and most corrupt EU country.”